


Masterpiece of Nature

by ThePackWantstheD



Category: Camp Camp (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe- David Adopts Max, Canon Compliant, Canon Rewrite
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-04
Updated: 2017-09-01
Packaged: 2018-12-11 03:01:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 5,254
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11705436
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThePackWantstheD/pseuds/ThePackWantstheD
Summary: Additional scenes for each episode, revolving around the idea that when the series starts David has already adopted Max.





	1. Episode Zero: Back to Camp Campbell

"It's already time to head back to Camp Campbell," David said. He was focused on the pan on the stove in front of him, spatula hovering as he waited for them to be ready to flip. Though it would be a while until they were ready to leave, and even longer until they were actually at camp since their place in the middle of the city was several hours from Camp Campbell, David was already wearing his camp counselor uniform. It was even more unnecessary when one considered that David and Max were going up to the camp a day early to prepare things for the other campers arrival. "Aren't you just so excited, Max?"

The two of them were sitting in the kitchen of their apartment. David was cooking breakfast while Max waited for the food, patient but sleepy.

"No," Max deadpanned.

He was sitting at the island in the blue sweatshirt he always wore, it was one of the few things Max had brought with him when David had begun fostering him, and a pair of pink sweatpants. They had been a gift from David's sister at Christmas the year before because they read "Fuck Off" across the butt. She'd seen them in the women's section, she said, and immediately thought about Max. David had tried arguing that those weren't appropriate for someone Max's age, but Max liked them and David's brother had been laughing about it instead of siding with him so in the end Danielle had won. He'd gotten out of bed only recently so his hair stuck up in wild angles. There was a cup of coffee in front of him, something that they'd argued about when Max first came to live with David until they agreed that one cup a day wouldn't hurt. Not that Max ever went a day without trying for more.

It would be a while before they left the apartment for camp, but David was already wired with excitement. Just the thought of spending the rest of summer at Camp Campbell was enough to put an extra pep in his step.

"Aw, Max, come on," David said. "Aren't you excited to see all your friends again?"

"They aren't my friends," Max responded.

"And we've got a very special surprise for you kids," David said, thinking about the two new campers they were getting this year.

It wasn't very often their tiny camp got new campers and each time it did was so exciting. He didn't think they'd had a new camper in two or three years, not since Space Kid and Nerris had joined them. He remembered talking to Gwen about how they'd need to think of activities for an adventure camp and a science camp, but at the moment their names were alluding him. He'd been so focused on how to make camp wonderful for the kids that he hadn't actually looked at their baby work very long.

He thought one of their names began with N. Maybe both of them?

Nodding a bit to himself, he resolved to check before he and Max left for camp. He wanted to make sure he had their names down-pat before they arrived at camp. After all, he was sure they'd be good friends with all of the other campers by the end of the year and he wanted to make sure he knew Max's friends. He didn't have too many friends so David did his best to encourage him when it came to the ones he did have.

"Oh god no," Max said, groaning. "None of us want your surprises, David!"

"Now that's just not true," David said. He turned around, catching sight of Max just in time to see his ward flop down across the counter.

"It is!" Max objected, voice muffled by the counter top. "They always suck!"

"That's mean, Max," David argued.

"It's true," Max said. He shifted, putting his chin on the counter and peering at David. "Last time you surprised me with something, I got bit by a giraffe!"

"You liked the zoo!" David argued.

He'd taken Max out to the zoo during his spring break. They didn't have much money for a big trip, but David had wanted to do /something/ for his foster son. Max had complained the entire way there that the zoo was for babies, but David had seen how much fun he'd had when they'd been walking around. David had felt terrible about the bite when it happened, but in the end it had just been a little scrap on Max's palm when the giraffe went to eat an apple out of it. Max hadn't even cared that much when it'd happened, finding it cool in that way that all young boys seemed to find injuries.

Max shifted, folding his arms over his chest. "I still got bit!"

"Well," David said, "I promise no one will bite you this time."

"So you say _now_."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1) Hi everyone!! I hope you liked this chapter and what I did with it. I know this idea gets kicked around a lot so I'm sure SOMEONE else has written it, but [PJ](http://possiblymichaeljones.tumblr.com/) and I talked about it a lot when we were at RTX and she first saw the show. 
> 
> 2) I personally choose to believe that Nikki and Neil joined a group of kids who were on their first day back at camp rather than joining in the middle of camp season. I'm sure that will be disproved by canon, but do I care? Not fucking really. 
> 
> 3) You'll notice David mentions a sister and a brother. I don't know what's canon bc YOLO, so I like the idea that David was orphaned young and his older brother took care of him. Maybe the angry David was see in the flashback episode (if we assume it was true and not just David making shit up) is because his parents have died recently and everything sucks? 
> 
> 4) I'm going to TRY and add four scenes for each actual episode, but we'll see how I feel once I start actually writing the episode. I'm also going to try for Friday updates to go along with the actual show, so we'll see how that goes. 
> 
> 5) The title is from a quote that says "“The heart of a father is the masterpiece of nature.” 
> 
> 6) And finally comments are appreciated but you can also talk to be over on [tumblr](http://thepackwantsthed.tumblr.com/)


	2. Escape from Camp Campbell

**[0:00]**  
"Max!" Gwen called. It was only the first day of Camp and already she sounded ready to light a match to end it all. Personally, Max thought that was a good sign for the rest of Camp. If all of his escape attempts failed than he'd at least be there to watch Gwen's slow descent into insanity. That would be entertaining in it's own way. "Where exactly do you think you're going?"

"Outside with David," Max said. He'd thought that Gwen was occupied enough with the other kids that she either wouldn't notice or wouldn't care when he slipped out the door. Not that it really mattered if she did. Gwen usually left Max to David and tried to handle the rest of the kids instead. Max was pretty sure that she considered all of them combined to be a lesser evil than he was all alone, something he found particularly hilarious given that _Dolph_  was at camp again this year. "We're going to wait for the new campers."

Gwen narrowed her eyes at him. She warned, "Don't think I don't know what your doing here, Max."

"I have no idea what your talking about."

"Uh huh." She watched him for another moment before asking, "Where exactly are you planning on going if whatever plan your working on works? Back to the apartment that David won't be at for months?"

"I don't know," Max said. He'd honestly never really thought about that part of his plan. He figured he'd go spend the summer with Danielle or Damian. He'd never admit it to anyone, but escaping from camp wasn't really about getting away from _David_. He just didn't like Camp Campbell and he didn't see a point in spending his summers there just because David did. "Anywhere is better than here, though."

"Uh huh."

Before she could say anything else to him, there was a loud burst of laughter behind them.

Gwen whipped around. Almost instantly her attention was off of him. She took steps towards the other kids, shouting, "Nerf! Don't you dare! Put Space Kid down right now!"

With Gwen's attention elsewhere, Max was free to slip outside of the hall and out to the gate so he could wait for the new campers - and the bus - with David.

 

 

 

**[6:35]**   
_Sick of listening to David speak to the old ladies in the room about the best type of yarn for the plushies they were making, Max sank down in his chair until he was so far down only his eyes were visible to the other people in the room._

_Usually when he and David went to the library for David's knitting club, Max would sit out in the library with his laptop and rented movies from the libraries collection. He'd been planning to convince Christina, the librarian who always seemed to work during the knitting clubs meetings, to let him watch one of the R rated movies until David had said that he had to sit with him this time._

_"Sit up, boy," said Mable, the little old lady sitting to Max's left. From what Max had gathered since David had dragged him into the room, she was a seventy-four year old woman who had to keep a tight leash on her grandchildren in order to keep the entire horde of them under control. Given the way she treated Max on the rare occasions that David dragged him along to knitting, it seemed to be her philosophy with all children. Even the ones she wasn't related to. "You're going to hurt your back like that."_

_"Uggg," Max groaned. Putting his palms on the seat of his chair, he pushed himself up._

_"Don't groan," Mable chided._

_Max shifted so he was sitting on the right side of his seat, closer to David than Mable._

_"David," Max said, knowing that there was a little bit of whine in his voice but unable to get rid of it. "Why can't I go watch a movie?"_

_"Well because we're doing plushies this week!" David said. "I thought you could try it too than maybe we could do it at camp this summer! Knitting camp sounds fun doesn't it?"_

_"Knitting camp sounds like the stupidest idea I've ever heard," Max said. "Which is saying something because I'd have to spend every summer dealing with the stupid ideas you and Gwen come up with for that stupid camp you drag me to."_

_"Camp Campbell isn't stupid, Max!" David said, frowning a bit. "It's the funnest place on Earth!"_

_"Funnest isn't a word," Max said._

_"And it's where we met! I couldn't possibly think of any place that I met you as anything but fantastic!"_

_Max was quiet for a minute before he grumbled out, "If I have to participate in this stupid thing, can I at least make something cool?"_

_"That's the spirit!" David said, patting Max on the back. "What about a Ninja Turtle? Susan has a grandson that she made four of those for. I'm sure she won't mind letting us borrow the pattern."_

 

 

  
 **[11:14]**  
"Do you really think that Max isn't going to cause even _more_  trouble now that he has those two with him?" Gwen asked. "Because I know you're biased when it comes to him, but you've got to know how bad an idea that is."

"Max isn't going to do anything that we can't handle," David said. The two of them were walking from the sight of the bus crash back to the camp to deal with the other kids and get them all around for lunch. "He never has."

"There was only one of him before!" Gwen said. "I can deal with one Max, I don't think I can deal with three!"

"Gwen, you can't think like that! It's our duty as camp counselors to encourage the campers and help them overcome obstacles! Even if helping them might be difficult for us." David's expression sobered a bit, his previous enthusiasm melting away. "He doesn't have any friends Gwen, not even at home. He spends all of his time with me or alone. I love having him around, but kids needs to be around people his own age too. He needs friends."

"That's a low blow." There was a quiet moment before Gwen let out a heavy sigh. "I'm not picking up after them when they make the other kids cry."

"Max isn't going to make the other kids cry!" David objected. "Sometimes he goes a little far, but he's not _terrible_."

"That child is literally Satan. Nothing will convince me otherwise."

"Now that's just mean, Gwen!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1) Hi everyone! I hope you enjoyed this chapter!
> 
> 2) It was hard to pick areas in this episode to put scenes since it's actually a really cohesive episode. Hopefully in the future I can get a few more scenes? Though I do hope you've liked what I added to this episode regardless.
> 
> 3) How did dolls of Nikki and Neil exist of Knitting camp was last year in this fic? I don't know!! But they existed despite Nikki and Neil not having joined camp until that day so Roosterteeth can deal with that plot twist. I like that flashback scene though!
> 
> 4) I included time stamps to show where in the episode these scenes were supposed to take place/were based off incase anyone wanted to read these in conjunction with that. 
> 
> 5) I'm not aiming for very long chapters. I'm only putting a 1000 minimum on these chapters as opposed to the 3-4K minimum on my other fics. I really just mean for them to be little additions to the episodes rather than a huge thing.


	3. Mascot

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Reminder that the bolded and underlined numbers are timestamps for where the scenes are within the episode! You may want to rewatch when reading!

**1:04**  
Max turned away from the lake, leaving David standing their by himself. The camp counselor was still staring out at it as if Larry the Hamster was attached to a boomerang that would bring him right back rather than a boulder.

"Max," Neil said, falling into step with him, "I can't believe you just killed that hamster."

"Yeah!" Nikki agreed, walking next to Max on the other side. "That's cold even for you."

Larry the Hamster was a camp mascot, but David took care of him when camp wasn't in session. The hamster lived in a large cage on top of Max's dresser. It was multiple stories with several tunnels and other objects for the hamster to play with. He'd been around before David had taken Max in three years ago and while the cage had a good one, it hadn't been as much of a challenge as the one they'd had now. When Max had first moved in they hadn't had a lot of money, David was only twenty-one and while his siblings were helping where they could David didn't want to rely on them when he'd made the decision to take Max in, but Max had never had a pet and he'd wanted the best for the hamster. He spent hours researching hamster cages until he'd come to David with a list of ways to improve the cage. David hadn't even hesitated to agree and the two of them had spent hours in the living room together as they built a new one. It had been one of their first bonding experiences outside of them meeting at camp. Larry had rolled around in a hamster ball next to them, constantly switching between peering curiously as his new home and rolling around the living room.

In the three years that Max had lived with David and Larry the Hamster, he'd seen the hamster go through a wealth of shit.

He'd seen Larry get squished by the small children at the daycare David worked at. He'd seen Larry thump his way down all of the stairs in their apartment building when Damian visited without knowing the hamster was out. He'd watched David lay on the floor belly down as he reached into their vent to retrieve the hamster when he'd slipped from Max's grip.

"I didn't kill the hamster," Max said. "The damn thing is immortal."

 

 

 

 **6:07**  
"Well I guess Nikki was right," Max said. He opened his arms wide and shut his eyes tight as he added, "Enjoy wearing my skin!"

Though his words were casual, they were spoken around a tight knot in his throat. His chest beat rapidly in his chest and his entire body felt cold with fear.

He should've stayed with David. Max didn't understand David, didn't understand how he could be so endlessly optimistic and oblivious, but David would never have let anything happen to him. For all of David's flaws, he was the one person in Max's life who had never really let him down. David loved him in a way that didn't hurt. He wanted to give Max the best, to keep him safe.

Max loved him too, but Max had been _seven_  before he'd been sent to camp and met David. That was seven years of being taught that people were liars and thieves and drug users. That was seven years of caring for himself because no one else would. That was seven years of being alone more often than with someone, of being _relieved_  to be alone because the alternative was frightening. David caring for him couldn't erase those years.

Max had been learning, opening up more than he had when David first took him in, but it was still hard and sometimes he just needed to get away. He needed one day to breath and be alone to think.

He shouldn't have taken today to do that, though.

He shouldn't have suggested that the quartermaster take some of them out hunting for a new mascot. He shouldn't have ignored Nikki and Neil's warnings. He shouldn't have kept with his plan even after he'd realized no one else would be joining them.

He should have stayed with David.

He wanted David.

He wanted his _dad_.

 

 

 

 **9:07**  
"The quartermaster and Jews?" David said. He looked down at Max, his eyebrows knitted together and confusion written in every line of his face. "What are you talking about?"

Max thought about everything that had happened in the forest. Then he shook his head, deciding that it was better to let it go then try to explain his adventure in the woods to David. He'd probably believe Max, because he always did, but Max didn't really want to relive that entire horrible adventure.

"Nothing," Max said, dismissing it. Before David could bring it up again or ask him if he was sure, he added, "Do we have to take care of the platypus now?"

"Well, I don't think we can leave it here once we leave," David said. He reached over, putting his hand between Max's shoulders so he could steer him towards the other campers as he started walking. "We wouldn't want anything to happen to our mascot."

"Is our landlord going to _let_  us have a platypus in the apartment?"

"I'll talk to her before we leave." David said, sounding a little lost, "I have no idea how to take care of a platypus though."

"I'll research it like I did the hamster." Max looked up at David as he said, "We're going to have to take the hamster cage apart."

David hummed before saying, "I think it'd be a shame to take something that you worked so hard on apart, especially when it was our first project together. A few of the kids at the Daycare Center have hamsters. I'll see if I can donate it to one of them. I'm sure the kids would love to give their pets something made with as much love and care as you put into that."

Max was quiet for a moment, a warmth spreading through his chest as he ducked his head. "I guess one of the little brats can have it."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1) Hi everyone! I hope you enjoyed this chapter as well! 
> 
> 2) SOMEONE has to take care of Larry the Hamster when it's not camp season. I thought David was an obvious choice. 
> 
> 3) I already know what I want the story of Max's parents to be, but that's not gonna get addressed for a while in this fic so you'll have to wait to see :)
> 
> 4) In real life, Platypuses are protected and absolutely can not be kept as pets. However, like most other things I have decided to throw reality out bc they actually wouldn't even exist in the same space as Camp Campbell since they're native to Australia.


	4. Scout's Dishonor

**1:39**  
Max gripped the side of the boat as he leaned up to look at the lake around him. Behind him Nikki and Neil were talking about what they were going to do once they were away from camp. Nikki was saying something about living with the wolves. Max wasn't really sure. He was too busy trying to figure something out to think about what his plans were once they reached their destination.

This was Max's fourth summer at Camp Campbell. He came out here sometimes outside of the summer as well. David practically ran the place so every couple of months they'd come out for David to speak to the Quartermaster and make sure everything was okay. That wasn't counting the weekends when they came just to camp because David insisted that kind of thing was good for Max and firmly believed the area around Camp Campbell was the best place to camp.

To Nikki and Neil, who had only spent a few days at Camp Campbell, nothing looked out of place. To Max, though, it was obvious that they were going the wrong direction.

They were far enough into the lake that the water looked endless and the trees had gone shadowy, nondescript, in the background, but Max knew exactly where he was.

He'd spent plenty of hours on this lake.

There'd been the swimming trip during the beginning of his first summer. When he'd shown up at the dock wearing his hoodie and refused to swim like the other campers. He'd made all kinds of sharp remarks about what must have been living in the lake. When David responded it wasn't with dismissal or amusement, but by telling him that while he understood why the lake looked scary to Max he had swam there when he was a kid and nothing was wrong with him. Max had never had someone acknowledge him like that, someone that listened and acknowledged the validity of his statements instead of dismissing him or laughing. In the end what David said didn't really matter because Gwen had gotten irritated at Max's arguments and picked him up to throw him in.

There'd been the time shortly before his second year, shortly after a judge had ruled in favor of Max staying with David instead of going into foster care, when he and David had come up to check on the camp only to run into Cameron Campbell himself. David's near hero worship of the dude had ended up with them getting dragged into some kind of hunt for an expensive fish the man thought lived in the lake. They'd spent hours out on that lake, fishing. When they'd finally trudged back, David dejected from not being able to help, they'd found that Campbell had completely forgotten he'd even sent them out there.

There'd been the camping trip last year when Damian had taken the weekend off to come with David and Max. They'd come out on the lake to go canoeing. Damian had gotten it into his head to mess with them and tipped them over in the middle of the lake. David was too nice to yell and instead gently chided his brother as he fretted over Max. Max had had no whelms about shouting at Damian while they tried to flip the canoe upright. Damian had just laughed at them both, completely unconcerned with anything his brother or adopted-nephew had to say.

Max had spent enough time out on this lake to know that Snake definitely wasn't taking them where he'd promised to take them.

 

 

 

 **3:03**  
"Gwen," David said. As he walked across the main hall to reach her, his eyes darted around the campers gathered. Breakfast had just ended and since there weren't any big activities today, the kids were breaking to go to their camp stations. There was an unusual frown on his lips, a building concern in his eyes. "Have you seen Max today?"

"Not that I remember," Gwen said. She looked away from the campers as David came to a stop next to her, glancing at him instead. "I haven't seen Neil either. Are they still asleep?"

"No," David said, shaking his head. "I went to check their tent when they didn't show up for breakfast. Neither of them were there." He added, "Nikki didn't show up for breakfast either."

Gwen hummed, "If its just those three, I'm not too concerned."

"Gwen, I know they cause problems sometimes but-" David said.

"David," Gwen interrupted, "they're probably just out staging some escape attempt. I'm sure they'll show up by lunch."

"They've never missed a meal while trying to get away before," David pointed out. The worry in his gut was mounting the longer he thought about it. As much as David loved the camp, it wasn't always the safest place. Campers had died here before. He rolled his bottom lip between his teeth. "Maybe I should go look for them..."

"No!" Gwen said, voice sharp. She turned, body twisting towards David so she could look right at him. There was a firm scowl on her lips. "You are not going anywhere! I spent all day yesterday trying to defeat a magical gold-breathing dragon and getting yelled at for talking out of character. Today is _your_  day to play with Nerris!"

"But-"

"No buts! Satan's triplets will be fine! They'll show up before dinner."

While the three of them ran off sometimes, they always ended up back at camp eventually. It was possible he was just overreacting.

David wasn't entirely convinced that was the case, though.

Still, he said, "I know it's my day at Magic Camp. I wasn't going to skip."

"Good," Gwen said. She folded her arms across her chest, nodding her head as she turned back to the kids. "Good."

 

 

 

 **8:15**  
Max had just stepped into camp, feeling exhausted now that the adrenaline from Nikki and Neil's escape attempt had worn off, when he was wrapped up in a hug.

"Oh Max!" David cried, squeezing Max tightly. "I'm so glad you're back!"

Max thought about everything he'd been through at the Wood Scouts camp. It'd been a serious of seriously fucking stupid things that he had no desire to do, but he'd never really been in _danger_.

Before he could say anything to David, snap about David hugging him and ask what David was talking about, the man was pulling back. He pushed Max about an arms length away, his fingers curled around Max's upper arms but there was space between them now that allowed David to look up and down Max's body.

"Are you okay?" David asked. "Are you hurt anywhere?"

"I'm fine," Max said.

"That's good, I'm so glad!" David ran his eyes over Max one last time, as though confirming that what he'd said was true, before he turned his attention to Nikki and Neil. He didn't grab onto them the way he had with Max, instead just looking them over as he asked, "And you two? Are you okay?"

Max hung back as the conversation drifted, David beginning to scold them for leaving without saying anything after Nikki and Neil assured him that they hadn't been hurt either.

He'd hated everything about being with the Wood Scouts.

No matter how much of a hell hole Camp Campbell was, though, he didn't hate everything about being here.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1) Hi everyone! I hope you enjoyed this chapter as well! 
> 
> 2) Also I've been checking for it but if I ever put Nicky instead of Nikki please let me know. I'm used to writing hockey fic and Nicky is what we call Nicklas Backstrom. So sometimes I worry I'll mix the two spellings up. 
> 
> 3) I don't like this chapter a whole lot, but I don't hate it either if that makes sense? I'm just not entirely pleased with the direction I went with it.


	5. Camp Cool Kidz

**2:52**   
_"This is stupid," Max grumbled. He was sitting in a chair at the long plastic table that they'd set up for today's activities. Nikki and Neil sat on either side of him. While Max's face was all anger, Neil was looking down at the rope on the table with a mix of disgust and confusion. Nikki, on the other hand, had already grabbed the rope off the table and was eagerly winding it around her fingers. "When am I ever going to need to tie a knot?"_

_"There are a lot of different types of knots, Max," David pointed out as he dropped a section of blue rope in front of Space Kid. "I can't tell you all of the uses for a knot because every knot has a different use!"_

_"That's such a fucking cop out answer," Max argued. "You have no idea what I'm supposed to use these knots for, do you?"_

_"Of course I do," David insisted._

_"Max, come on! We can have so much fun if we learn how to tie knots!" Nikki said, her voice filled with excitement. "We can catch a bear in a tree! Then we can let it go and fight it!"_

_"You can't actually catch a bear in a net like that," Neil argued. "The weight would be too much for the rope."_

_"Nu-uh! I saw it in a movie once!"_

_"Now, now kids," David calmed, walking by the trio as he came back towards their side of the table. Now that all of the campers had the rope they needed to practice on, David was going back to the head of the table where he'd be able to demonstrate what he was teaching them "You can do anything with a well tied knot, including trapping a bear. That's why we're learning how to tie them." When Neil opened his mouth to argue, he added, "Even if you can do that, though, you shouldn't Nikki because fighting a bear would be mean to the bear."_

_"I don't care if I'm mean to a bear," Nikki said. "I'll punch a bear!"_

_"No," David said, voice as firm as it ever got. "Now, let's all pick up our rope. We're going to start with a very simple overhand knot to warm up."_

_"This is so stupid," Max repeated, folding his arms over his chest and wrapping his fingers around his biceps. Despite his grumbling when David had finished his demonstration and turned his attention to helping Nerris, Max reached out for the rope in front of him. He knocked his shoulder against Nikki's. "Hey, how do I do this?"_

 

 

 

 **5:42**   
As the music flowing out of the main cabin grew louder and brightly colored lights began shining out of the windows, David let out a soft sigh.

"You know, I knew Max would reach a rebellious stage eventually," he said. He knew Gwen wasn't paying attention to him, focused on the tablet the kids had stuck in front of her, but talking out loud like this felt nice. Especially considering he'd been hanging upside down with no one to talk to all day. "I mean, he's just kind of a rebellious person. I just thought I had a few more years before it really kicked in, you know?"

Thinking about it made David sigh a bit. David understood suddenly what people meant when they talked about their children growing up fast. It'd been years since he and Max had started living together, but it seemed like those years had passed quickly. The little boy he'd taken in was growing up. Max was almost a teenager.

There'd only be a few more years until their lives involved a lot of more teenage rebellion.

"I guess this is just what its like to be a parent," David concluded. He heaved another heavy sigh, letting his head rest against the pole once more. "I'll just have to brush up on my knot-undying skills soon."

He really hoped Max's teenage rebellions wouldn't end the same way, but at least if they did he'd have a way put of it.

 

 

 

 **9:55**  
"David."

David looked down so he could look at Max when the boy called his name. He'd just been taken off the pole. He hadn't quite made it to following Gwen and the other campers inside, taking a moment to let the blood in his body spread through places other than his head.

Max didn't look guilty exactly, but there was an odd look on his face that David could only describe _as_  guilt. He was looking at the ground instead of David, kicking his toe against the ground a bit.

"Yes Max?" David asked, feeling a bit confused.

He hoped Max wasn't about to tell him that he and Neil had killed one of the other campers when they'd rebelled against Ered's rebels. He thought he'd seen everyone, but he hadn't exactly done a proper head count before shooing them into the main hall to be yelled at by Gwen. She'd been all for disciplining them once there wasn't anymore trashy television to watch. He didn't know how he was going to deal with if Max _had._

Maybe Mr. Campbell could help....

"'m sorry I hit you earlier."

"Hit me?" David echoed. He thought about it for a moment before he remembered what Max was talking about. "Oh! When you slapped me?"

"Yeah. I got really into the role and I did it without thinking," Max said. "I shouldn't have. I'm sorry."

David didn't think he'd ever heard Max apologize so sincerely for something he'd done.

It broke his heart a little bit to hear it.

He didn't think Max's parents had ever hit him, they'd won the court case due to neglect and Max had never _told_  him about any abuse, but he couldn't imagine what else would make Max so apologetic about hitting someone. Maybe he was afraid that hitting David would make David leave him like his parents had.

Regardless, David put on a smile.

"It's okay Max," he said. "I'm not happy about it, but as long as you know it's wrong and don't do it again it's fine."

Max looked up at him. "Are you sure?"

"Yup," David said, giving a sharp nod. He reached out, setting his palm between Max's shoulder blades and giving a light push. "Come on now. Let's go join the others."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1) Hello! I hope you've all had a good week and enjoyed this chapter!
> 
> 2) I really like writing these little things about the various things that David mentions in the episodes. David said that it was a "knot tying class" but I went with "knot tying camp" because that was more fun. Hopefully the slight discrepancy doesn't bother anyone (if anyone even bothered noticing that).


End file.
